1. Field
Embodiments of the following description relate to an apparatus and method for imaging breast.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, occurrence of breast cancer is gradually increasing due to the entry of women in public affairs, a westernized diet, a low birth rate, and so forth. An incidence rate of breast cancer is especially high among young people. Accordingly, women's knowledge about the necessity of breast cancer examination is increasing.
Methods for breast cancer examination include a breast imaging examination and a breast ultrasound. The breast imaging examination is performed using a mammography which is an X-ray imaging device, a full field digital mammography (FFDM) employing a digital flat panel, and so forth.
When microcalcifications (MC) or masses shown in a breast image generated by those devices, a doctor may diagnose that there is the possibility of breast cancer. That is, images of the MCs or masses need to be accurately generated by the devices for an accurate diagnosis of breast cancer. However, it is limited to accurately show in an image both MCs and masses with a limited dose of irradiation due to different characteristics of the MCs and the masses.
According to a related-art mammography, tissues in a breast are compressed and 2D-projected, thereby obtaining an image. Although an image accurately shows MCs, the accuracy of images of the masses is relatively low. To this end, digital tomography is used to increase the accuracy of mass detection.
However, since the digital tomography images a breast several times at different angles, a relatively high dose of X-rays is irradiated to a patient. In addition, the digital tomography generates an image at a rate of 2 frames per second at most to produce a high resolution image.